The Gothic 1 Remake is a punishingly difficult game, and when you start out, your nameless Hero will be pretty useless in a fight and will need to politic his way to the top. But as you develop your alliances and level up, you’ll soon need to commit to a build and combat strategy. There are multiple disciplines you can specialize in, but one of the best builds in Gothic is the strength build – so here’s the best strength build.
This build focuses on weapon mastery and martial prowess to survive the dangers of the colony. It’s one that mostly ignores sneaky and dexterity skills in favor of being a straight-up fighter with melee weapons like swords and maces. The good news is that it can be enhanced by a knowledge of a few magic spells, too. As with all the best strength builds in RPGs, it always pays to have a backup plan.
Best camp to choose for this build
The best camp to choose for this strength build is the Old Camp.
This is because it’s where the trainers we’re going to use the most are situated and will give us better access to the weapons we’re going to target and use.
It’s also the camp that lets you become a Shadow, which is an ideal path for a warrior or battlemage.
Best training for a strength build in Gothic
- Strength
- One-handed weapons
Luckily, you start the game on the default path of a strength build. You’ll likely pick up the rusty sword at the start and use it to kill some scavengers on the way to the Old Camp. From here, you’ll befriend the lovely Diego, and he’ll offer to train your strength stat.
So this is something you should start doing as soon as you can. Every point you invest in strength makes you a little tougher and serves as the foundation for the build. This is the easiest build to learn and master, and offers a lot of flexibility. For example, you can use this early progress to become a battlemage if you like – which in our view is the best build in the game.
Remember, if you’re committing to a strength build (whether you’re incorporating magic or not), you’ll need to completely ignore dexterity to make the most out of it. Sure, you may be tempted to pump a few points into it so you can use a bow, but our advice is not to. Instead, we can use magic for ranged attacks, and this is a much better use of your points.
Once you’ve pumped a few points into strength, seek out Scatty and ask him to train you in one-handed weapons if that’s going to be your fighting style of choice. This is especially important if you’re going to add a few spells to your arsenal. However, if you’re going to ignore magic altogether and be a pure strength build, you can ask Thorus to train you in two-handed weapons.
However, if you want the best strength build in Gothic with the most flexibility, make Diego and Scatty your main trainers. If you’ve chosen to make the Old Camp your home, this will make life easier for such a build, and becoming a Shadow who’s friendly with the Fire Mages will also help.
Other skills to consider
- Lockpicking
- Hunting
While strength and one-handed weapons will be your main skills, we’d also advise pumping a few skills into lockpicking and hunting. Fingers in the Old Camp will train you in lockpicking, and this will help make the minigame less tedious and mean you can gain access to more areas and loot. Yes, lockpicking sucks in Gothic, but it pays to make it less of a chore.
Drax in the New Camp will train you in hunting, and this helps you progress by squeezing more value out of every kill you make in Gothic. You’ll be fighting a lot of aggressive wildlife, so this maximizes that effort and means you’ll benefit from it in the long term.
Adding magic to a strength build
Like we’ve said, we believe the path of a battlemage is the best build in Gothic and doing so will help make your build more well-rounded, and give you some ranged options in combat without ever needing to switch your loadout.
It’s also remarkably easy and rewarding to incorporate into a strength build. So our advice is to seek out Torrez in the Old Camp, befriend him, and have him train you on Rune Magic, and later, pump some points into Mana. Once you get access to the Firebolt spell, you’ll be well on your way to being one of the most dangerous figures in camp.
Best weapons for a strength build in Gothic
The more powerful you get in the Gothic remake, the more weapons will become available to you. This isn’t Diablo 4, so you won’t be chopping and changing your loot every hour. Instead, you’ll graduate to each weapon once you find it and are able to wield it effectively.
These are the weapons you should hunt down in Gothic for this build:
| Point in the game | Weapon name | Damage | Required Strength | Location |
| Very start | Rusty Sword | 10 | 5 | Cave before you reach Old Camp |
| Find early on to upgrade from the Rusty Sword once you’re able | Short Sword | 12 | 6 | Buy from Fisk or behind Old Camp on the ground |
| Upgrade once you have the money or schematic | Farmer’s Defense | 14 | 5 | Buy from Fisk, craft, or have it smithed |
| Find once you can confidently explore the world | Lurker’s Bite | 16 | 8 | Hidden cave near entrance of New Camp |
| Upgrade to this once you gain entry and can use it | Morning Star | 23 | 10 | Found inside the two-story warehouse in the Market District of the Old Camp |
| Story moment and this will serve for endgame | Scar’s Sword | 85 | 70 | Take it off Scar’s corpse during the story |
Remember, these are all one-handed weapons, as we’ll be blasting fools with Firebolt with our other hand!
While the above build is more of a battlemage than a pure strength build, that doesn’t stop it from being the best strength build you can craft in Gothic – if not the best build overall. However, it leans more heavily into one-handed and strength combat, with magic being a support skill.
If you use the above trainers, skills, and weapons listed above, then there won’t be many enemies who can stand against you in the colony.
Looking for more guides on Gothic? Check out some of these:
Bully for Bullit Quest | All 6 Chromanin Books Locations | The Dam Lurker Quest | Up to His Neck Quest | The Minecrawler Nest Quest | Baloro’s Weapon Quest | How to Open the Broken Tower Door Quest | Where to find Fisk | Gothic Ending Explained | How to Open Scatty’s Chest | Gothic Difficulty Settings | Put Away the Torch | How to get into the Castle | Gothic How to Get a Map | Should you pay for protection in Gothic? | How to get rid of Mud | Games Inspired by Gothic | How To Get Your Own Bed And House
